Chapter 11 Family Ties #2
Darcassan grimaced. His eyes darted to Rhalyf. He didn’t want to make the first move. His ego wouldn’t allow it. As the best friend of his uncle, Rhalyf should apologize. In part.
“I… apologize for… for reacting as I did, but not for why I did it,” Rhalyf gritted out.
Darcassan sniffed and crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “If I had known that Finley was a special friend of yours–and that you would bring him here–I would have spoken… more… cautiously about his worth.”
“See? Was that so hard?” Elasha asked, glancing between both of them.
Neither of their apologies was full, complete or truly as heart-felt as it should have been. But they were out there. That had to be enough.
“Please after you. I would say age before beauty, but I have both of those things on my side.” He bowed.
Darcassan–who was never a wizard of words at the best of times nor of reading people–stalked through the rift with his head held high.
Just as Elasha was about to hurry after her twin, Rhalyf called out to her, “Elasha, don’t let him touch anything. ”
“I… he won’t!” she protested, but didn’t sound positive about that. Then she was through the rift.
He turned towards Helgrom, Snaglak and Glom. “Please, go before me. I will happily bring up the rear.”
“Don’t want to go home?” Snaglak asked as he leaned his bloodied club against his massive shoulder.
“I… I never had the pleasure of residing in Illithor. Born far too late for that,” Rhalyf admitted.
Helgrom grasped his right forearm. “You have to tell Aquilan about who you are, lad. You should have done it a while ago.”
Rhalyf grimaced at the chastisement that he, himself, believed very warranted. But to hear it out of Helgrom’s lips meant that it was doubly true. “So you knew, too? The whole time? Or just–”
“Snaglak’s not the only one with a nose for Under Dark folk.” Helgrom touched the side of his bulbous one. “But in all seriousness, anyone who has ever seen a Vex fight would know who you are. Who you have to be related to.”
Rhalyf’s mouth went dry. So Helgrom not only knew he was a Night Elf, but a Vex. Good grief, had he ever been truly hidden? Either one of them could have told Aquilan–especially Helgrom–at any time and the jig would have been up. But they hadn’t.
“Was this Under Dark species unite instincts or… what?” he asked.
Helgrom chuckled. “We do have to stick together. If you meant the Sun King harm, I most definitely would have taken care of you myself.”
He tipped his hammer towards Rhalyf. Normally such an action by a dwarf would have amused him. But Helgrom was a Draesiwen and a king. The Kindreth did not pick their allies lightly. The Draesiwen were known for their fighting prowess among other things.
“I would have expected nothing less.” Rhalyf bowed his head. “But I have never meant Aquilan any harm. And I never will.”
“What if Vex wants?” Snaglak asked as he scratched his ass as if this question were something so insignificant that an ass scratch had to accompany it!
Betray his uncle? His king? Or betray his best friend? His true king? The Kindreth answer would have been whatever was more advantageous either in the moment or the long run. Betting against Vex was never advantageous. But Rhalyf had never been a good Kindreth.
Rhalyf swallowed. “I’m sure that will never be asked of me–”
“Could be,” Snaglak pressed. “See Vex soon.”
“I… well… you… what would you and Glom do, Snaglak? I’m sure that Vex could ensure you never lacked for beer or ham. Would you betray Aquilan?” Rhalyf thrust back.
More ass scratching. “No ham in Under Dark and Helgrom have best beer.”
“Oh, well, that settles it then.” Rhalyf threw up his hands. “No ham and bad beer? Definitely sticking with the Sun King! I suppose weightier decisions have been made for less logical reasons.”
Helgrom nodded. “Loyalty is a funny thing. My own people told Vex no and… well, he left us to our fate.”
“What did the Draesiwen not agree to do for him? I’ve never actually heard,” Rhalyf asked.
Helgrom met his gaze evenly. “We wouldn’t take Vex’s side against Sun King Ailduin.”
Rhalyf blinked. “Seriously?”
That had not been on his checklist of reasons.
A nod. “My ancestor told Vex that this fight between them would pass and that he would be glad that we would not strike out at the Sun King.”
“But he did not agree, I take it?” Rhalyf asked.
“He did not. But he didn’t cut my ancestor down then or after.
Nor did he have his army do it. He simply left us to our fate when Ailduin fell and everyone was against us,” Helgrom sighed softly.
“They scented blood in the water. They knew Vex would not defend us so they took advantage of it. And all was lost.”
“I see.”
And Rhalyf did see. On the one hand, perhaps Vex had appreciated the Draesiwen loyalty to his old friend Ailduin. That was likely why he hadn’t killed them himself. On the other hand, Vex had likely fiddled while the great Draesiwen Kingdom burned.
“We should head in.” Yet Helgrom did not take a step towards the gate. He stared at it almost balefully. “It has been nigh on 100 years since I stepped foot in the Under Dark. The fact that I go there as an ally of another Sun King…”
“Luckily, all you have left is a tavern, Helgrom. There is no kingdom for Vex or your enemies to take,” Rhalyf said gently.
Helgrom squared his shoulders. “Not that it would matter either way. Aligning the Draesiwen with these particular Sun Kings is the right thing to do. Let’s go get Finley.”
Snaglak and Glom followed on his heels with the naki literally nipping at Snaglak’s. Rhalyf drew in a deep breath, raked a hand through his hair and strode purposefully forward.
I’ll drop the glamour before I proclaim who I am. Then Declan and I can perhaps convince Aquilan and the others to leave before we meet Vex and–
He did not get farther than that in his thought process as instead of simply stepping through the rift there was a yanking sensation and the world went all wobbly.
He nearly fell smack on his face. He caught himself on a wall just in time and hung on for dear life until the sensation passed.
The wall shouldn’t have been there. When he’d looked through the rift it had emptied out on the plain outside of Illithor.
But now he was in the midst of buildings.
“By the gods, what was that?” he asked even as his shields snapped on to full power and a fireball ignited in his hand. His senses were already shooting away from him looking for an enemy.
Ah, the power of the Under Dark! Gods, I can feel it!
But it was more than that. It was where he was in the Under Dark. He was inside Illithor. Instead of being deposited on that plain, he was indeed deep inside the fabled capital city of the Kindreth. His heart beat faster as he spun around to see how, why and who had brought him to such a place?
But there was no Night King in sight.
Nor was there anyone else either. Snaglak, Glom, Helgrom, Elasha and Darcassan were nowhere to be seen. Aquilan and Declan were far from him. So far that he didn’t even sense their magical auras.
This is bad. Very, very bad.
He knew how the rifts worked. He had created them himself. Not to go to Illithor obviously, but to leave the Under Dark head to Earth and then the Lieran Plane when he had fled his uncle. So he should have stepped out on the road that led to the city, not in the city itself.
Where in the hells am I?
Luckily, he had spent too much time studying the old maps of Illithor in his youth. He could have walked these streets blindfolded. And now he was going to get his chance to see just how accurate that information and his memory were.
He was in a broad avenue of dark green stone.
It reminded him of the color of fall grass.
That deep green before winter came and covered it all with a thick covering of snow.
He rather loved snow. He’d never experienced it in the Under Dark.
But snow was glorious. He shook himself.
What was he doing thinking of snow at a moment like this?
He realized that instead of feeling afraid, he felt giddy.
That wasn’t good. The city was fueling his magic.
Or rather he was stealing a bit of it as was his wont, but unconsciously.
He was getting drunk with power. He forced himself to stop siphoning and to really look around him.
That was when he saw it.
A stag carved out of ebony stone. It stood atop a high plinth. One of its forelegs lifted as if to take a step. Its head with that magnificent crown of antlers was held quite high as well. Behind it up a set of large, wide steps was a temple.
The Forever Hunt, he thought. Is that the stag from the song? Maybe Helgrom was right about the real meaning of those lyrics. Do I recall any temple to a stag? Oh, yes, of course! Southwest quadrant! I know exactly where I am. Sort of.
But knowing where he was didn’t help him really. He needed to find the others. Finley’s face once more flashed before his mind’s eye. He could locate the young man first.
But he’s with my uncle. So no, Finley, my dear one, you have to wait. Aquilan first. Then Finley.
Still, he debated. Vex could have left Finley somewhere to fend for himself.
Maybe he had tied the young man to an altar and was waiting with a dagger in hand for them to show up.
He shook himself. Vex didn’t worship any gods.
He allowed countless different religions to build temples in the city, but he belonged to none of them.
So he wouldn’t be sacrificing Finley. Besides, most Kindreth wouldn’t value a single mortal life anyways.
And if he is Declan’s father, will he really kill his son’s best friend? Well, maybe. But not quite yet. Not until he has what he wants. But what does he want?
More questions than answers. He had to focus!
He steepled his fingers together as he began to cast the location spell. He didn’t need anything of Aquilan’s to make it work. They were so close that he could–
Who was that?
His eyes, which had naturally been falling closed, shot open as he saw movement at the top of the steps to the stag’s temple.
There was a familiar figure with antlers who had suddenly hove into view.
He quickly crouched down behind a large planter, one of several that framed the avenue, to hide and peered out.
Vex?
But no. It wasn’t Vex. And those weren’t the same antlers. They were a crown of antlers though.
A Blood Crown. I didn’t know those were real until now.
And then the person turned their head and he could see their face.
Haera?!
His sister looked out at the city with a sense of satisfaction. Her usual satisfaction. Then she went back inside of the temple. And Rhalyf found himself going after her.